From Underneath Dark Skies
by chalantness
Summary: Prompt #1: light. Kaldur/Kiran, Dick/Babs, Spitfire, SuperMartian: She smiles brightly upon her introduction that no one else is listening to and it's the first glimpses of sunlight that has reached the Cave in what feels like a long, long time.
1. Part 1 of 2

**Title: **_From Underneath Dark Skies  
><em>**Rating:** T  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 7,400+ (total)  
><strong>Characters:<strong> introducing: Kiran Singh (a.k.a. Solstice), Kaldur/Kiran, Dick/Barbara, Wally/Artemis, Conner/M'gann, a little Roy/Jade towards the end  
><strong>Summary:<strong> It's not fair for her to be introduced to the Team like this, all broken and dysfunctional, but she smiles brightly upon her introduction that no one else is listening to and it's the first glimpses of sunlight that has reached the Cave in what feels like a long, long time.  
><strong>Prompt:<strong> #1: light  
><strong>Other Inspirations: <strong>"_Lights will guide you home, And ignite your bones, And I will try to fix you_" – lyrics from "Fix You" by Coldplay

**Note:** This is for jenniferhudsonfan33, who requested for a fic with Solstice. The angst kind of took over, so I'm sorry that it didn't end up being focused on Kiran like I wanted it to be. If you don't like it, I definitely owe you another fic!

* * *

><p><strong>From Underneath Dark Skies (12)**

* * *

><p>The first time he meets her, he almost wants to apologize.<p>

He's the only one really standing and waiting for her while everyone else is distant and distracted, like it has been for a while. It's not fair for her to be introduced to the Team like this, all broken and dysfunctional, but she smiles brightly upon her introduction that no one else is listening to and it's the first glimpses of sunlight that has reached the Cave in what feels like a long, long time.

So when he greets her, "Welcome to the Cave," and it doesn't sound as exasperated as he's been feeling recently, he wonders if that's supposed to mean anything.

"Thank you." Her voice sounds like chimes. He thinks a head or two turned to look at her. "I'm Kiran."

She puts her hand forward and he shakes it gently. Her skin is dark like his, though still noticeably lighter, and her hair is this cocoa brown that's pulled back into a ponytail. There are silver earrings dangling from her earlobes and her hazel eyes scan the Cave with suppressed interest. She seems like she's holding back a little.

(In his mind, he wonders if someone filled her in and that's why she's being subtle.)

"Perhaps would you like a tour?"

... ...

Her first night at the Cave, she volunteers to cook and he sets the table for every seat as he usually does and they actually all eat together, which mildly surprises him. Other than missions and training, they haven't spent much time as a whole in quite a while.

It's mainly utensils scraping against plates and Kiran talking, because they ask her things, but he figures that it's better than nothing.

But then Artemis asks, "So, how did you get invited to the Team?" and Kiran kind of looks at him and hesitates before answering. It's pretty obvious she knows more than she let on.

"My parents work with Dr. Sandsmark," Kiran explains, setting her glass down too slowly. "It's how I met Cassie. And then she introduced me to Diana and—"

There's a loud shatter followed by a few soft gasps, and M'gann is scooting her chair back and standing up, covered in her food with her plate is in shards on the table. Her eyes are watery and for a few seconds, she's just standing there and everyone just looks at her until she mumbles, "I'm sorry. Let me go clean up."

Conner begins to get up too, reaching for her wrist, "I'll help—"

"_No_!" she yells, and Conner flinches very, very subtly and doesn't move. "I've… I've got it," she kind of whimpers, and then runs out of the room.

Conner grumbles, "I'm not hungry anymore," before walking towards the hallway, opposite of where M'gann left, and they all feel it when his fist hits the wall in the other room.

"Way to go, _Artemis_," Wally says coldly.

Artemis's jaw drops a little. "Excuse me," she scoffs, standing up, "but how exactly was I supposed to know that she—"

"Maybe because Cassie _told_ us the last time she came to visit!" he yells, throwing his napkin down and standing up as well. "You're just _trying_ to cause trouble!"

"I _wasn't here_ the last time Cassie visited!" She's kind of shrieking now. Her cheeks are red and there are tears in her eyes, and her tone is dripping in venom when she adds, "I doubt you forgot that I was too busy being a poisonous, backstabbing bitch that day to hang out," and whips her hair when she spins on her heel and storms out.

"I'm full," Wally says through his teeth, and then he's gone in a blur.

Kiran is sitting there, undoubtedly trying to not look as uncomfortable as she probably feels, and he places his hand over hers so that she looks at him. "None of this is your fault," he tells her, because it needs to be said. "It has been like this way for a while."

She nods and smiles a little and doesn't say anything in response. He thinks she appreciates the clarification.

The only other one at the table is Robin, and he inhales shakily and musters up a grin and announces, "I'll help wash dishes," and Kaldur _has_ to smile at him.

He's _trying_.

... ...

He wonders, sometimes, if the others just tolerate her being there or if they're just too distracted to care much, or just a million other different reasons why no one else really bothers to spend more than two minutes with her aside from Robin and himself. He also wonders if she takes it personally or if she understands enough to know not to.

It's probably the latter, but even then, he can't imagine that it's _pleasant_ having to deal with them and their intensity, or that it's particularly easy to be ignored and not to feel a little hurt by it.

But she smiles all the time despite all of this and he doesn't know how she does it.

... ...

The three of them are sitting on the floor around the glass table in the living room while playing Uno, and the others are elsewhere in the room. He can't see them, but he can sense their presence.

Their conversation jumps from topic to topic until Robin inquires about her powers, because she's been there for a handful of days already and even though they've heard from Cassie, she hasn't had the opportunity to give a demonstration.

Kiran asks, "Want to see?" and stands up in front of the TV, and Kaldur would bet everyone is kind of watching at this point, whether they mean to or not.

She holds her hands out in front of her with her palms facing up, and this swirl of light appears out of nowhere, hovering over her palms and swirling and growing into this shining orb that looks like a small version of the sun. Then she giggles a little as she throws the orb like it were a bowling ball, and it rolls out into the air and bursts into these comets of lights that dance across the room.

Robin is clapping and when Kaldur looks over his shoulder, M'gann's giggling very faintly as Conner is smiling at her from behind, and Wally has this very small grin tugging at the corner of his lips as he watches a beam of light rush past him and blow Artemis's hair around as it circles her.

Kaldur's sure _this_ is supposed to mean something, at least.

... ...

He works up the courage to ask her directly, about what she knows, exactly, when the two of them are walking on the beach.

"I know about all of it." She says this so quietly that he barely hears her above the sound of the waves and the breeze. She also sounds apologetic, as if being told this from someone else rather than them, personally, is wrong to her.

He's glad.

Not about her feeling bad, obviously, but that she has more than a big enough heart _to_ feel bad about everything with. When he tells her this, and apologizes, she laughs lightly.

"Don't apologize," she tells him. "I appreciate the honesty." She stops, bends down and rummages in the sand until she plucks out a seashell. It's sparkling under the sunlight and he wonders how he didn't notice it, himself. "But do you mind not telling the others? They probably already know that I know, but…"

She trails off and he nods, anyway, and smiles when she opens his hand and drops the seashell onto his palm, closing his fingers around it.

... ...

She's pretty good at combat fighting, despite obvious room for improvement. He and Robin help her, though, since Black Canary can't direct their training as often as she could before and the other League members, even Red, can't be around much for one reason or another.

He knows Conner misses Black Canary, even if he won't say it. He's not above admitting it, but with the trouble with M'gann, he's just been a lot quieter than he already was.

Anyway, he walks in on the three of them training on the platform, trying to help Kiran with her stances and transitions, and Conner sort of pauses and ends up watching longer than he probably intended. Robin spots him (he most likely did the second Conner walked in, but didn't say anything until now), lifts his hand up and calls out, "You teach this move better than me. Want to lend a hand?"

So he walks over and Kiran straightens herself and kind of looks at him. He hasn't said a single word directly to her since she first joined.

"Only if she wants it," he mumbles, and Kiran chuckles and says, "Well, _someone_ needs to teach more, or I'm going to get my butt kicked out there!" and Conner laughs a little and says they need room.

As Kaldur and Robin are stepping aside for them, Kiran catches his eye and winks.

She may just be God-sent. Or, Batman-sent.

... ...

Artemis wanders into the kitchen when they're baking.

Well, _Kiran_ is doing all the work because she's telling them about this chocolate thing that her mom makes that everyone loves, and she wanted to show them. She melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and poured it into a glass pan lined with a baking sheet, and drizzled salt crystals and cornflakes before sticking it in the fridge to harden.

Anyway, she and Robin are taking turns dipping their fingers into the remaining chocolate in the bowl (Kaldur politely declined the offer) when Artemis walks through the doorway.

"Oh," Artemis says, "Sorry, I was just—"

"Perfect timing!" Kiran interrupts, and walks over to pull the girl forward with her clean hand so that she's sitting down at the island with them. "They should be done."

Kiran wipes her other hand with a paper towel before opening the fridge and pulling the glass pan out. Kaldur hands her a knife when she asks for one, and they watch her divide the chocolate into squares like it's the most fascinating thing in the world.

Robin rips four more paper towels from the roll and sets them on the counter, and Kiran distributes a square for each of them and watches eagerly as they take their first bites.

It's _delicious_.

"Oh, my gosh, Kiran," Artemis kind of sighs, "This is amazing! You have to tell me the recipe."

Kiran's eyes sparkle. "How about I whip up another batch and I'll teach you the steps?"

"There are like, two dozen squares here," Robin points. "I think we have more than enough for the four of us."

"We're not the only members of this Team, Rob," Kiran laughs, lifting the baking sheet up and carefully sliding the chocolate squares onto the readied plate. "And Wally probably needs his own dozen."

Kaldur looks at Artemis in time to catch the way her lip twitches into a crooked grin at the mention of the speedster's name, and she mumbles, "Yeah, the idiot does," probably without realizing it. Then he looks at Robin and the Boy Wonder is grinning at him, so they're obviously thinking the same thing here.

... ...

He's having trouble sleeping one night, and goes out to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of orange juice, when he finds her sitting on the couch with her feet propped up on the glass coffee table. She looks up at him when he enters, and gives this smile. There's a mug of nestled in her hands and her hair is kind of in her face, but she still looks really pretty.

(He thinks it'd be impossible for her to stop looking as pretty as she does, though, so.)

He waits until he's gotten his orange juice and settled in beside her before saying, "May I ask what is troubling you?"

She smiles a little. "It's not _troubling_, exactly," she shrugs, "but I just couldn't sleep and while I was making my tea, I just randomly thought what the Team must've been like before…"

_Before everything fell to pieces._

He nods, and this wave of nostalgia hits him all at once even though he's only barely begun to recall some of their memories in his head. And he doesn't know how long she _let_ him sit to himself and replay these moments before softly asking, "Do you mind sharing?"

She's not talking about his orange juice, obviously, and he chuckles, "Of course," and waits for her to pull her legs up and shift a bit until she's more comfortable before going on.

He probably doesn't get through half of the things he could be telling her, but he talks about how they first came together, their rookie mistakes as a Team, their stumbling through their first missions. He knows there are better memories with less petty arguments, but he likes that he told her their slip-ups first because each time he gets to the part where they reconcile, her eyes twinkle as she grins.

"It sounds like a lot of fun," she tells him.

He nods slowly, glancing up at the ceiling for no particular reason. "I miss it very much."

"We'll get them back," she informs, and when he looks at her, she's got her body angled towards him and her head propped up on her hand while the other is holding her mug out.

And even though hers is warm and his is cold, those words sound like a promise or a mission or both (probably both), so he clinks their drinks together and they sip with smiles on their faces.

... ...

On a mission, they're infiltrating this research facility on a private island somewhere in the middle of the ocean and trigger an alarm. They're in a high tower where a supercomputer is that Robin copied data from, and they make it up to the roof and try to evade their pursuers while M'gann flies the bioship over from the other side of the island.

Somehow, a guard gets his arms around Artemis and when she tries to slip free, his hand is over her throat and he's throwing her over the edge.

There are waves crashing onto the rocks just below them, and Wally yells, "_No_!" and hurls himself after her before Kaldur has the time to react, and for a second, he's just watching their bodies shrink closer to the deep blue, almost black, water.

He's two seconds away from jumping, too, when someone (Kiran) yanks him back and the bioship appears overhead.

They're both shivering on the rocks when they fly to them, Artemis more severely than Wally, and Wally has his arms wrapped around her in a death grip as he's rubbing his hands against her skin. Her arms are around herself, but the hand closest to Wally is fisting the material of his costume really, really tightly.

They bundle the both of them in blankets and after they get the two onto the ship, they sort of just sit in each other's arms in the middle of the floor. M'gann's flying them home, but her eyes keep flickering to her friends and she looks two seconds away from crying. Conner walks up to her and puts his hand in hers like he always, _always_ has when trying to comfort her, and she squeezes back.

That night is the first night they all have dinner together since Kiran arrived, and this time, no one ends up yelling at each other. No one says anything, either, but Kaldur figures that it's alright.

... ...

Kiran apologizes to him the next day, saying that it wasn't her place to try and stop him and she really shouldn't have been selfish enough to come between him and saving two of his closest friends. When he tells her that he doesn't get why her trying to keep him safe is considered selfish, she looks away and whispers, "I didn't want to have to see you get hurt, too."

He gets why, after that.

... ...

The others are beginning to hang out with them more, and Kaldur's glad, because it's been over a month since Kiran joined them and it was about time.

It can sometimes be tricky, though.

M'gann only really hangs out when Artemis is there, and when M'gann and Artemis are there, Conner and Wally won't be. Then at times when Artemis is with them but without M'gann, Conner will be there, and when both Artemis and M'gann are gone, Wally is there, too. Kaldur sometimes spends time with the girls when Conner and Wally are with Kiran, because he doesn't want the girls to feel like he's abandoned them for her. But he and Robin tend to alternate who they hang out with, because they want to spend equal time with everyone.

The last thing any of them need is to feel like they're choosing sides, which they all know he and Robin won't, _ever_, but still.

And the entire thing is ridiculous enough to give anyone a headache, but the Cave has been noticeably brighter lately and if they need to tiptoe around each other like this to make it work for now, then that's what they'll do.

... ...

They all end up on the training platform together without really planning to be, so when the transporter announces the arrival of Black Canary and Batgirl, the place falls completely silent.

Dinah blinks upon seeing them, having to take in the sight of them all being in the same room without the screaming matches. Behind her, Batgirl's eyes are only really for one other person, and Kaldur turns his head and sees the way Robin's face is sort of _blank_ and filled with emotion at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" Robin asks, tone harsh, and Batgirl presses her lips together in this line the same moment Conner narrows his eyes at the Boy Wonder.

"Black Canary's always welcomed here," Conner reminds defensively.

"They _both_ are," Artemis adds, narrowing her eyes.

Dinah looks a lot less uncomfortable than she probably is. "Guys, let's not—"

"I don't think you're in any position to tell us to do anything after you left with the Birds," Robin interrupts. It's clearly for Black Canary, but his face is directed towards Batgirl and a tear rolls down the girl's cheek from underneath her shades.

"Hey!" Conner grabs Robin's wrist. "Don't talk to Black Canary like that! She didn't do anything wrong!"

"She left us!" He's yelling now, yanking his arm back and gesturing right at Black Canary and Batgirl. "They both did! They _left_!"

More tears are rolling down Batgirl's cheeks now, "Robin, that's not—"

"_Don't_."

"No, _you_ don't talk to her like that!" Artemis hisses, nearly shoving Conner out of the way so that she can stand in front of Robin and glare. "Don't talk to either of them like that!"

Robin opens his mouth to respond, but Wally's the one speaking, speeding right next to Robin and glaring back at Artemis. "If it's anyone that shouldn't be telling us what to do, it's _you_! I don't know what you're still doing here ever since your little secrets got out! You're the one who hurt the Team with all of your—"

"Lies?" Artemis laughs humorlessly. "That's _rich_ coming from the same boy that accepted Megan back the _very next day_ after we all found out she wasn't J'onn's niece." M'gann lets out a whimper and Conner grits his teeth. "Everyone forgave me already, Wally! _Everyone but you_! Yes, I lied, but that was because I came from a family of criminals and becoming Green Arrow's niece was my only way out!"

"Maybe you should've never left in the first place!"

It feels like a full minute of silence passes as Wally's words echo in their ears.

Artemis blinks, eyelashes dotted with tears as she asks in a whisper, "If that's how you felt, why didn't you just let me drown?"

She steps back before turning on her heels and walking out, not storming out like she usually does, and Wally looks like she had slapped him in the face.

Robin lets out this very bitter, humorless cackle as he begins walking away, throwing his arms in the air and letting his cape brush against Batgirl's arm as he exclaims, "Batman should just save us all the misery and disband the Team!"

Kaldur closes his eyes.


	2. Part 2 of 2

**Title: **_From Underneath Dark Skies  
><em>**Rating:** T  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 7,400+ (total)  
><strong>Characters:<strong> introducing: Kiran Singh (a.k.a. Solstice), Kaldur/Kiran, Dick/Barbara, Wally/Artemis, Conner/M'gann, a little Roy/Jade towards the end  
><strong>Summary:<strong> It's not fair for her to be introduced to the Team like this, all broken and dysfunctional, but she smiles brightly upon her introduction that no one else is listening to and it's the first glimpses of sunlight that has reached the Cave in what feels like a long, long time.  
><strong>Prompt:<strong> #1: light  
><strong>Other Inspirations: <strong>"_Lights will guide you home, And ignite your bones, And I will try to fix you_" – lyrics from "Fix You" by Coldplay

**Note:** This is for jenniferhudsonfan33, who requested for a fic with Solstice. The angst kind of took over, so I'm sorry that it didn't end up being focused on Kiran like I wanted it to be. If you don't like it, I definitely owe you another fic!

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><p><strong>From Underneath Dark Skies (22)**

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><p>Ever since everything went up in flames over a week ago, the Cave has been unsettlingly silent. Before, it used to just be quiet, but there were still muted signs of everyone else still there. They were just soft noises of activity or occasional confrontations if the wrong people happen to pass by each other; just things that reminded them that they all still existed.<p>

But it's been days since Robin, Batgirl, Wally, and Artemis have beamed in, and Conner and M'gann never seem to be awake or around whenever he is, so the place is _silent._

Cold and dark and quiet—things that can't help but make Kaldur think of the very bottom of the ocean.

Pretty soon, he thinks, _lifeless_ will be added to that list.

... ...

It's completely dark in the living room, with the exception of the kitchen light he turned on so he could get himself a glass of orange juice.

He's not exactly sure what time it is. It's probably well past midnight, but lately he can't find it in himself to have a few decent hours of sleep. It doesn't even have to be peaceful, just restless _sleep_. And he's not sure how long he's been sitting alone in almost total darkness on the couch, with his head hanging and elbows on top of his knees, when he opens his eyes and sees something moving.

He lifts his head up in time to watch this swirl of light trace around the living room in front of him before darting back, and as he looks over his shoulder, he sees Kiran standing there. Her hair is tied into a ponytail like the first day they met, and she's hugging her robe tightly around herself.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"Of course you may," he says quietly, sitting up a little straighter as she walks around the couch and sinks herself into the spot beside him, legs brushing against his as she tucks her legs under herself.

"How do you not get cold whenever you sit out here for so long?" she asks, shivering a little. He looks at her, and she smiles very faintly. "I haven't been sleeping much, either. I hear you when you come out but… I haven't been able to bring myself to leave my room."

He nods and lays his back against the couch, closing his eyes. "I have become used to it for a while now."

He hears her take in a breath, as if she wants to ask him if he's speaking literally or figuratively, but when she exhales and no words follow, he's glad. He's not sure how he'd answer that question.

After a pregnant pause has passed, he opens his eyes again and sees that she's still staring forward into the darkness, hugging herself and shivering a little every few seconds. He shifts closer to her, and she takes the invitation to do the same, lying against the couch as well with her arm pressing against his.

"My parents used to tell me," she says softly, "that things have to get worse before they can get better." Her body leans a little more against his, her head resting on his shoulder.

She doesn't say anything else after that, and even though a large part of him is doubtful and already giving up, there's a small, small part of him that thinks (hopes) that she could be right.

... ...

It feels like days since he's really _seen_ Conner, other than barely acknowledging each other if they happen to pass by.

He was swimming laps in the pool to try and burn off some of his pent up energy, and when he gets out and dries off, he has to walk into the gym to get to the locker room and Conner just so happens to be in there, taking his frustrations out on a section of the steel wall that is now bruised with dents.

Kaldur walks over to Conner as he's throwing another swing at the wall, and he sort of just leaves his fist in the dent he's been working on, breathing heavily.

"I messed up."

"We all did," Kaldur reminds.

"No, _I_ really messed up," Conner says, clenching his jaw a little before releasing. "None of you messed up like I did."

"I am sure our mere suspicion and hesitation, alone, was enough," Kaldur points out, placing a hand on Conner's tense shoulder. "She loved us, which was why she was hurt by our initial reaction. And even after we claimed to have forgiven her, our doubt still rests at the back of her mind." He squeezes a little. "But she was _in love_ with you, which made your blow particularly heartbreaking."

Conner's muscles tighten as his fist does. "I was just… so _mad_. You know how I am—_she_ knows how I am! …I overreacted."

"We do," Kaldur agrees, "but your overreactions have always been verbal. None of us were expecting for you to lash out in the _way_ that you did."

Conner closes his eyes. "Cassie was… _there_ at the wrong time. I shouldn't have… I just _shouldn't_ have. It wasn't fair for me to use Cassie like that, and it sure as hell wasn't fair to M'gann."

"Be sure that she knows this, my friend," Kaldur advises, and Conner looks at him. "Be sure that they _both_ know this."

... ...

When they walk down the hallway towards the kitchen, they hear voices.

They peer out a little, and a girl with fair skin and golden curls—undoubtedly Cassie—is sitting on a barstool at the island, her head on the counter and Kiran standing beside her with a hand on the girl's back, rubbing soothing circles. Kiran looks up at them and holds up an index finger, and then presses it lightly to her lips.

"_Gosh_, I just feel so _stupid_," Cassie groans, voice muffled by her hands over her face.

"Why did you throw yourself at him like that, Cassie?" Kiran asks.

"I don't know!" she cries. "I just… When I found out about M'gann like everyone else did, I was just… _so mad_ at her for lying and being such a threat to my friends that… I just wasn't thinking. And Conner was sulking and furious, too, and my anger took advantage of that… of _him._"

Kaldur meets Conner's eyes, and he nods slightly at his friend when he notices the hesitation on the boy's face.

Conner walks forward a little, speaking up, "Cassie."

The girl sits upright, cheeks red and eyes watery and a little puffy, and is obviously surprised to see them there. Kiran places a hand on the girl's shoulder and squeezes reassuringly.

"I… I'm sorry," Conner gets out, walking a little closer, until he's standing at the opposite side of the island from them. "I was overreacting and I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like that."

"Conner, _I'm_ sorry," Cassie says shakily, sniffing a little. It's obvious she's been crying for a while, now. "I didn't mean to do that to you and Megan. I mean… I'm sure at the time, part of me meant to, but… I was overreacting, too, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you like that just because I was being emotional and overprotective, and because I was mad at her."

Conner nods, and Cassie brings the heel of her palm to wipe at the corner of her eye.

"Guys," Kiran says softly, catching their attention, "it's great that you apologized to each other… but there's someone else who really deserves it, too."

She's looking ahead, and they follow her gaze to where M'gann is standing in the middle of the living room, staring back at them. Her eyes are watery, too, and her bottom lip is quivering.

Conner and Cassie look at each other for a second, and then at M'gann, but when they try talking at the same time, M'gann says, "I know, guys," in this nervous little laugh, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I accept your apologies. And I'm… I'm _sorry_ for lying…"

M'gann lifts her hand and holds it out, and Conner immediately walks over to her and slips their fingers together, squeezing.

Cassie's crying softly to herself, holding her hands over her face again, and Kiran wraps her arms around her friend and presses her head against Cassie's. She meets Kaldur's eyes and smiles a bit sadly, but it's a smile nonetheless, and as Kaldur looks from them and back to Conner and M'gann again, he can't help the small smile that forms on his face, too.

... ...

Later that night, they're all in the living room and pretty much doing nothing productive.

He and Conner are playing some shooting game that Kaldur couldn't care less for, but Conner usually plays this with Robin and Wally and they're nowhere to be found lately, so of course Kaldur's going to play with him. M'gann is kneeling behind Kiran and braiding the girl's hair as she's flipping through a magazine.

"You're really good with this," Kiran compliments.

She meets Kaldur's eyes and smiles at him, and he smiles back, of course, but then Conner kills his guy with a headshot a second later and Kiran laughs.

"I've had a lot of practice," M'gann admits. "I used to do Artemis's hair all the time."

Conner puts the game on pause and has a worried look on his face when he looks over at M'gann.

She's not tearing up or anything (she's done her fair share of crying today), but her hands kind of stop moving through Kiran's hair and she has a really distant look in her eyes. Then Kiran reaches over her shoulder to place her hand over M'gann's, turning her head as best she can and telling her, "She'll be back soon. They all will," in such a convincing way that they can't help but believe her.

... ...

When the transporter announces a new arrival, Kaldur's eyes kind of grow wide. It'd felt like forever since Roy had visited the Cave, and yet, he's walking into the kitchen and smirking at Kaldur so casually, as if he'd done this every day.

"It is good to see you, old friend," Kaldur greets.

Roy chuckles a little and punches his shoulder lightly. "I'm not _that_ old. But I get it, I'll visit more often." He sits down on a barstool. "So, the others…?"

"I believe M'gann and Kiran are in the gym," Kaldur informs, "and Conner is in the hanger with Wolf and Sphere."

Roy nods and looks over the room once before asking if they've got anything to drink. Of course Roy knows everything that's been happening with the Team. He, Robin, or Wally all keep him updated, and if not, Black Canary will or anyone in the League, really. According to King Orin, League Members asked frequently about the status of the Team and were more closely affected than they probably realized.

Kaldur pours Roy some lemonade that Kiran made the previous night, and the redhead makes a face but drinks it, anyway, when Kaldur places it in front of him.

"So, what brings you to the Cave?" Kaldur asks, because he knows Roy. The man is not above visiting friends just because, but he was probably aware that almost none of them would be here. Obviously there is more of a point to this visit.

Roy just looks at him for a moment before reaching into his pocket and sliding something onto the counter.

Kaldur picks up the small photo in front of him, holding it carefully between his thumb and index finger, and for a few seconds, he's just staring at a blur of black and white and gray. Then he makes out the profile of a small head and lumpy body, and when he looks up, eyes wide, Roy is smirking again.

"Is this—"

"Yeah," Roy cuts him off, swiping his thumb over the condensation on his glass, just for the sake of doing something. "She's fifteen weeks along."

Kaldur sits down on a barstool, too, and stares at the picture in his hand. "Who is the…" he begins to ask, but he can't seem to get the word _mother_ out of his mouth.

"That's the tricky part, Kal," Roy tells him, and Kaldur wonders how it can get trickier than him becoming a _father_.

Roy digs into his pocket again and pulls out two photos, placing one down first. It's obviously a candid, because the young Asian woman isn't looking at the camera, but he can still make out her face pretty clearly. Then Roy places the second photo down beside the first, and it's undoubtedly a surveillance photo that was zoomed in and cropped to get a clearer picture.

But really, the mask is all that one needs to see to know who this is.

"Look, I know it's crazy," Roy begins. "She's not… I wouldn't have let it get this far if I didn't think she wouldn't be able to—"

"You do not need to justify yourself to me, friend," Kaldur reassures, smiling for a second before adding, "Does this mean Artemis—"

"She knows," Roy replies. "Actually, that's the second reason I came today." Kaldur hands back the sonogram and watches Roy slip them back into his pocket. "I talked with Artemis. Well, Jade and I both did when she… never mind. But she told me about what happened."

Kaldur nods. "It was the worst I had ever seen them get."

"She's not taking it well," Roy tells him. "And Wally isn't either, according to Rob. He's been calling nonstop. You think they'll ever be able to get passed this?"

"It is hard to say," Kaldur admits. "Wally is untrusting and does not take lightly to being lied to. Artemis is too strong to admit to having her heart broken, and will be bitter because of it. Robin does not cope well with feeling abandoned, which is what he feels Batgirl did to him. And Batgirl has always had Robin in her life, so with this strain on their relationship, she may no longer want to continue heroism."

Roy sets his glass down and looks Kaldur in the eyes, and when he asks if maybe it were better to just disband the Team altogether, Kaldur presses his lips together and doesn't answer.

... ...

They're all on the training platform, sparring, when Red Tornado appears on the screen and tells them the news. The Birds of Prey were in Gotham and had a run-in with Joker and Harley Quinn. They were able to send both off in cuffs, of course, but before that, Harley's hyenas got to Batgirl and there'd been a lot of blood when Black Canary called Watchtower.

When they're about to leave for the Watchtower, however, Robin and Artemis appear through the zeta transporter at the same time, with Wally following shortly after. All three are still in civvies, and there are tears in Artemis's eyes as she runs over to M'gann and the two hug.

Wally grips Robin's shoulder as Batman arrives and is authorizing each of them, individually, so that they can zeta to the Watchtower.

Before it's her turn, Kiran slips her hand in his and squeezes. She looks shaken up and is holding onto his hand tightly, like she's expecting something similar to happen to him any moment.

He squeezes back and then untangles their fingers, grasping her shoulder and pressing a kiss to her forehead. He lets his lips linger, mumbling, "I will be right behind you," against her skin, and she looks into his eyes as she nods before stepping away and disappearing through the transporter.

... ...

As they're sitting in the waiting room, the air is thick with tension.

The boy is hunched over with his head bowed and arms tucked between his knees, hair falling over his shades. Wally is sitting on the arm of his chair, hand still on his shoulder, but his eyes are looking at Artemis, who has her face leaning into M'gann's neck and wetting her green skin with tears. Conner has his arm around M'gann, so it's somewhat around Artemis, too.

"This is my fault," Robin says after a long while, and they all sort of just look at him, because it's surprising that even he spoke.

"Rob," Wally begins, "don't say—"

"It _is_," Robin insists, sitting up straighter. His hands curl into fists atop his knees. "Black Canary said that Batgirl was distant and distracted the entire time, right? That was because of _me_."

Artemis lifts her head to look at him warily. "What did you say to her?"

"It doesn't matter," he mutters, standing up. "It distracted her and she got hurt because of it."

"Of course is _matters_, Robin," Artemis cries, and then asks again, "What did you say to her?"

Wally looks like he's about to defend his friend when Robin says shakily, "I told her that she might as well forget everything we've ever been through since it obviously meant nothing to her." A tear rolls down his cheek and he continues, "I didn't _mean_ it! Of course I didn't. She's my best friend, and I was just being stupid."

Artemis wipes at her eyes and says softly, "People say stupid stuff and don't realize how the other person will take it." Wally winces. "You need to tell her that."

Robin curls his fists tighter. "_If_ I can," he whispers, and Artemis brings a hand to cover her mouth.

... ...

When they finally (_finally_) get an update, it's in the form of Batman telling them that Batgirl will be fine after a few weeks' recovery. He's looking right at Robin when he tells them this, and Robin lifts his shades a little so that he can wipe away his tears with the back of his hand.

Then he tells him that she's semi-conscious and hasn't stopped asking to see him, and Robin nods and follows his mentor out after Batman asks if he's ready to visit.

So they all sit around the waiting room a little more relaxed than when they first arrived, and for a while, things seem fairly normal. They're sitting in a circle around the table and kind of talking about whatever comes to mind. Artemis even brings up Roy and Jade and the baby for a few seconds, obviously without using any names, since apparently Roy's got around to telling the rest of the Team.

But when that conversation dies out, Artemis says how she's sure Robin and Batgirl will be fine, if not better than before, once Robin's made amends.

"It's not like it was entirely Robin's fault in the first place," Wally says kind of defensively.

Conner and M'gann look at each other nervously, and Kiran grips his elbow where their arms are linked.

Artemis kind of narrows her eyes. "I'm not _trying_ to blame it all on him, but he really shouldn't have said what he said in the first place."

"Well, she shouldn't have _left him_ like that in the first place," Wally reminds. "The only thing that sent their whole relationship to the rocks like that was because she left the Team—left _him_—for Black Canary and the Birds. She betrayed him!"

"_God_, Wally, it's not always that simple!" Artemis yells. "He could've been supportive or attempted to understand, but he shut her out instead. He didn't even _try_ to be there for her!"

"Well how could he?" Wally questions. "How could he try to meet her halfway if every time he looked at her, it just reminded him of how awful he felt that she did this to him in the first place?"

M'gann has her arms around herself, eyes shining, and Kiran shifts anxiously in her seat.

"You know what? I'm _done_."

Artemis gets up, and there are tears rolling down her cheeks as she slips on her jacket, and Wally asks, "Where are you going?"

"It's obvious you'll never stop being pissed at me for lying!" she shouts, and Kaldur sees the door open and some of the Leaguers start to crowd the doorway, probably to check on what all of the shouting is about. "I can't keep doing this with you, because it's _killing_ me and we're never going to get over it! So why should I even be on the Team anymore?"

"Artemis," Wally says, and she just shakes her head and begins to walk away. Wally gets up, "Artemis!"

"Just _shut_—"

A blur crosses the distance between where they're sitting and where Artemis is, and Wally is standing behind her, holding onto her wrist. And they all know Wally would never hurt her, or anyone, like that, but Kaldur can tell everyone kind of tenses at the same time.

"It just _sucked_, okay?" Wally tells her softly. "It sucked finding out that you were lying to my face the whole time after I just realized that I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you."

It's completely silent.

Kiran looks at Kaldur, eyes glazed with tears, before looking back at them, and Kaldur sees M'gann bring a hand to cover her mouth, tears falling. Artemis shakes her head a little, whimpering, and while it may possibly be the worst time for Wally to admit his feelings, it's probably the best. If anything will work, _that_ might.

"It sucked looking at you and thinking that maybe you lied about everything else, too," he continues. "Maybe you were only acting the whole time."

None of them can see her face, but she's obviously crying. "I didn't pretend with anything else."

"I get that, _now_, but it felt pretty crappy when I believed the whole thing was fake, or is just one-sided."

And Artemis obviously caught onto the "_is"_ part like Kaldur, and probably everyone else, did, because she's turning around a little and looking him in the eyes as she says, "It's _not_ one-sided."

He kind of nods a little and says, "Good." Then he adds, "I'm _sorry_."

She laughs breathily, more tears spilling from her eyes, and wraps her arms around his neck in the same second that he wraps his around her waist. M'gann is crying, too, and kind of giggling to let it all out as Conner pulls her against his chest and smiles at her. Kiran loosens her grip on Kaldur's arm and leans up a little to press a kiss to his cheek, beaming at him widely.

The League members kind of disperse shortly after that, and after Wally and Artemis walk outside to sit down on the bench to finally talk about everything, Kiran whispers into his ear, "I told you it had to get worse before it could get better."

He chuckles and whispers back, "I am glad you were right," before pressing his lips to hers.

... ...

They're all sitting in the small living room of the apartment, and while it's definitely more cramped than he has become used to due to living in the Cave, Roy and Jade's apartment is warm and cozy and definitely an atmosphere he can see them raising their daughter in.

Roy and Jade are sitting on the couch with Artemis beside her sister and Wally on her other side, and both redheads have an arm around their girl. Batgirl is in the recliner with her feet propped up and Robin sitting on the arm of the chair, their fingers laced between them. Kaldur and Kiran sunk into the giant bean-bag chair on the floor, which Kaldur knows Ollie gave to Roy as a present some years ago.

The lights are dimmed very low, because Kiran is making swirls of light dance across the ceiling with her fingers and they're all kind of just watching, whispering to each other every now and then.

Kaldur rolls his head to look at Kiran, watching the lights reflect off of her brown eyes, and thinks that it's entirely fitting that her powers are what they are.

(Because she was the light that pulled the Team through their darkest time.)


End file.
